By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Drew Detlefsen had four hits, including a two-run single in a six-run eighth inning, as the undefeated UTSA Roadrunners rallied on a windy day in San Antonio to defeat the Dallas Baptist Patriots, 10-8.
Coach Pat Hallmark’s team won its second straight in two days over the Patriots, a perennial NCAA tournament team, clinching the three-game series going into Sunday’s finale at Roadrunner Field.
The win also lifted Hallmark’s Roadrunners to a 6-0 record for the best start after six games in program history.
Dallas Baptist, a program that has advanced to 11 straight NCAA tournaments, scored two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to take a 7-4 lead.
From there, the Roadrunners capitalized on an ensuing Patriots’ bullpen meltdown in the bottom half to score six runs on four hits, four walks and a hit by pitch.
Leading by three runs going into the ninth, UTSA called on pitcher Mike DeBattista, who earned the save.
Battista gave up a one-out solo home run to Ryan Martin for the final run of the day, but after that, he retired two straight to secure the save, getting Landon Underhill on a grounder and Adam Burghult on a fly ball to right field.
UTSA’s momentum from a record-breaking, 47-15 season last year has become undeniable.
The Roadrunners, featuring a core of veterans who won the American Conference and NCAA Austin Regional titles a year ago, have started to play like they expect to win every day.
Detlefsen told ESPN on the postgame that the team felt confident going into the bottom of the eighth.
“This team is special,” said Detlefsen, who had two hits in the inning. “You can see it here, with a top team like DBU. (It’s a) respectable team, and we just battled. I can’t give enough praise to everyone. The fans. The players. Everyone that contributed to this win.”
In the series opener, the Patriots out-hit the Roadrunners by two, while both teams slugged three home runs. But the Roadrunners countered with pitching that didn’t walk a batter and a defense that didn’t make an error in 12-8 victory
UTSA wasn’t quite as clean on Saturday. The Roadrunners’ offense left 15 runners on base. The defense made two errors in the field, and the pitching walked seven.
But the pitching did have its moments, particularly a stretch of a few middle innings from reliever Conor Myles, and the hitting also came to life when it counted.
Down by three runs going into the bottom of the eighth, the Roadrunners sent 13 batters to the plate to stun the Patriots with six runs.
Detlefsen, one of the standouts on last year’s team, led off against DBU pitcher Athan Kroll with a single to right field.
Lane Haworth followed with his own single to right, putting runners at first and second. Kroll got the first out of the inning when Josh Arquette fouled off a pitch that was caught in front of the DBU dugout by Burghult, the catcher.
At that point, Hallmark got aggressive. He called for a double steal, and it worked, with Detlefsen taking third and Haworth pulling into second. At that juncture, Kroll started to falter, walking Christian Hallmark to load the bases.
Dallas Baptist coach Dan Heefner promptly countered by bringing in a new pitcher, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound righty named JT Long, to put out the fire.
Long looked imposing. He was throwing hard. Nevertheless, Jacob Silva greeted him with an RBI single for UTSA’s first run of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Long continued to struggle, hitting Diego Diaz with a pitch to force in a second run.
Hallmark maneuvered again, bringing in freshman Nathan Johnson to pinch hit, and Johnson responded with a long sacrifice fly ball to right for the second out. Nevertheless, another run scored to tie the game, 7-7.
After UTSA’s Jordan Ballin walked, Caden Miller stood in the box and worked the count to 3-2 against Long. He lashed a ball down the right field line that might have been a three-run extra-base hit, but it was barely foul.
Finally, Miller drew another bases-loaded walk to break the tie, lifting the Roadrunners into an 8-7 lead. With the crowd up and cheering and with the bases still loaded, Detlefsen stepped into the box for the second time.
He responded with a single through the left side, driving in two, and pushing UTSA’s lead to 10-7.
“I can’t lie,” Detlefsen told ESPN. “I was feeling nervous. With the adrenaline and all that. But once I got it to 2-0, I was looking for a pitch to hit, and on the ground, of course, with this wind.
“So, I just wanted to do damage. I got the pitch up (in the strike zone) and put it in play.”
In the end, UTSA outhit Dallas Baptist 13-7, with Detlefsen leading the way. He went four for six, scored twice and produced two RBIs. Silva and Haworth both had three hits in four at bats.
Records
Dallas Baptist 4-2
UTSA 6-0
Coming up
Dallas Baptist at UTSA, Sunday, 1 p.m.
UTSA at Texas State, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Notable
Three years ago, the Patriots swept three games at Roadrunner Field to clinch the Conference USA title. After UTSA joined with the American, the two played again last year in Dallas, and the Patriots won the series, two games to one.
With those outcomes, DBU increased its overall head-to-head record to 8-1 against UTSA. Now, of course, the Roadrunners have trimmed that lead to 8-3, going into Sunday’s series finale.
Last season, both teams advanced to play in the NCAA tournament. While the Patriots were ousted in the Baton Rouge Regional, the Roadrunners swept to three straight wins to claim the Austin Regional title.
Included in the regional victory were two straight wins over the Texas Longhorns, who were the Southeastern Conference regular-season champions and the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament.
UTSA reached the Los Angeles Super Regional and lost two straight to 15th-seeded UCLA.
